Mei Xiang has been spending more time in her den and cradles objects as she would a cub, according to animal keepers at the National Zoo. She might be pregnant, or she might be going through a false pregnancy.
Sadly, there's no Clearblue Easy for pandas.
So starting tonight, the National Zoo is temporarily closing down the Panda House and bringing in volunteers to monitor the 10-year-old on the panda cam.
Mei Xiang (may-SHONG) was artificially inseminated with semen from the Zoo's male giant panda Tian Tian (t-YEN t-YEN) in January after zoo scientists found out that she had come into heat three months earlier than usual.
A recent change in hormone levels indicate Mei Xiang's reproductive cycle will soon end. Meanwhile, scientists at the zoo have been doing biweekly ultrasounds on Mei Xiang. So far, nothing.
Since panda fetuses don't start developing until the last weeks of a gestation period, confirmation could be all up to the panda cam.
